荠 (jì): shepherd's purse (an edible wil…

Meanings

春天大家都去地里挖荠菜。

Chūntiān dàjiā dōu qù dìli wā jìcài.

In spring everyone goes to the fields to dig shepherd's purse.

荠菜馅的饺子特别鲜。

Jìcài xiàn de jiǎozi tèbié xiān.

Dumplings with shepherd's purse filling taste especially fresh.

usage

Read 荠 for 荠菜, the small wild green eaten in dumplings and soup in spring. A separate reading 荠 is only used in 荸荠 (water chestnut).

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant

Top is the grass radical 艹 — the side form of 草. It marks the character as a plant, here a leafy edible herb.

phonetic

齐 qí

even; together (phonetic)

Below is 齐, supplying the sound (kept in the qí reading; shifted to jì in 荠菜). The same phonetic appears in 济 and 剂.

荠 jì